Top Democrats, like Ted Deutch, are being accused of dragging out the Nunes ethics investigation to keep him away from the Russian probe:
FREE BEACON – Democratic congressional leaders on the House Ethics Committee are charged with intentionally dragging out an investigation into Intelligence Committee Chair Devin Nunes in what multiple sources described as an attempt to influence the Intelligence Committee’s sensitive Russia probe and promote their own political careers, according to multiple sources who spoke to the Washington Free Beacon.
Nunes (R., Calif.), chair of the House Intelligence Committee, which is handling the Russia probe, was sidelined from his leadership role in the probe more than three months ago after the Ethics Committee began investigating allegations that he disclosed classified information in comments alleging Obama administration officials had accessed classified intelligence reports in order to gain information on Trump associates.
Democrats are said to be blocking efforts to advance the Nunes case in an effort to discredit the top Republican and keep him sidelined from the sensitive Russia probe, which Democrats have increasingly used to score political points against Trump and boost their own political profiles.
As the Ethics Committee investigation into Nunes drags on, Rep. Ted Deutch (D., Fla.), the top Democrat tasked with leading the ethics probe, appears to have prejudged the case in the media, prompting further accusations that the Nunes probe is being politicized in order to boost the unsubstantiated Democratic narrative about collusion between Trump and Russia, according to U.S. officials and other sources familiar with the matter.
One U.S. official familiar with the situation told the Free Beacon that Deutch and Democrats on the Ethics Committee are seeking to keep Nunes away from the investigation in order to further the narrative that Trump colluded with Russia.
“Deutch said he wanted Nunes off the Russia probe, and he’s used the Ethics Committee to make that happen and prolong the investigation to keep Nunes under an ethical cloud,” one U.S. official told the Free Beacon.
One veteran congressional adviser who works closely with Congress on the leaks investigation told the Free Beacon the languishing ethics probe is shaping up to be little more than a partisan political ploy.
“This is what happens when Republicans trust Democrats to play fair. Everyone knows Nunes is squeaky clean, and lawmakers involved in intelligence know it most of all,” said the source, who could only discuss the sensitive matter on background. “So Democrats promised Republicans they’d do a quick probe, find whatever, and everyone would go back to work. But Democrats don’t want Congress to get back to work, and they also like keeping keep Nunes on limbo, and so they’re holding everything up.”
Deutch’s office, Nunes’s office, and the House Ethics Committee declined to comment on the situation and the status of the investigation into Nunes.
After watching the Bush years unfold and the witch hunts back then, I have no issues believing that Democrats are dragging this Nunes investigation out.
Democrats have made clear in the Senate they are all about obstruction, and it looks like they are playing a similar game in the House with this investigation.